this is my first ever posting, hope you find it useful. I live in Europe and travel to the US a couple of times a year. I have bought the Sony PRS 500 when it was first available and used it until I replaced it with the PRS 505 about a year ago. I still remember the big difference in terms of background white and contrast between the 500 and the 505. I read about 2 books per week so I consider myself a fairly serious user.

Given all the comments on the forum i was not surprised to see the PRS 700's screen in the Forum Shops in Las Vegas. The screen reminded me of what I thought was an old and long closed episode - the PRS 500. Not only the lack of contrast annoyed me, it is especially the unavoidable glare that is the knock-out! Actually after about 10 minutes playing with it I realized that the screen is not equal to the 500 but a lot worse! To be honest, I think it is not usable as a reading device, especially if you are used to the 505.

Bearing in mind a comment I read here I tried if switching on the light changes the game - unfortunatley it doesn't, though it helps a little bit.

I can only advise you all who think about getting one to drive to the next store and check if you really want to pay 400 bucks for it.

Now of course there is also a positive comment: I absolutley love the touch screen. When i first looked at it i missed all the little buttons from my 505 but omg this is how an ebook should be navigated! In addition, much less options for sand to get into your device (i assume i am not the only one reading on beaches )